"The most eccentric-looking wizard...Slightly cross-eyed, with shoulder-length white hair the texture of candyfloss, he wore a white cap whose tassel dangled in front of his nose and robes of an eye-watering shade of egg-yolk yellow. An odd symbol, rather like a triangular eye, glistened from a golden chain around his neck"

Xenophilius "Xeno" Lovegood is the editor of The Quibbler magazine, the husband of Mrs. Lovegood, and the father of Luna Lovegood. His wife died when their only child was nine years old, and he raised his daughter by himself. He is likely the source of his daughter’s eccentric beliefs, although he is often correct in his assumptions. He believed in the existence of the Deathly Hallows and supported Harry in The Quibbler when few others would.

When Rufus Scrimgeour became Minister for Magic, Xenophilius planned to print a story in The Quibbler stating that Scrimgeour was a Vampire. However the Ministry stepped in and prevented him from printing the story; Xenophilius believed that this was because the Ministry did not want the truth to get out.

Ted Tonks: "It's not so lunatic these days. You want to give it a look, Xeno is printing all the stuff the Prophet’s ignoring, not a single mention of Crumple-Horned Snorkacks in the last issue. How long they’ll let him get with it, mind, I don’t know. But Xeno says, front page of every issue, that any wizard who’s against You-Know-Who ought to make helping Harry Potter their number-one priority."

Daughter's ransom

"They took my Luna because of what I've been writing. They took my Luna and I don't know where she is, what they've done to her. But they might give her back to me if I -- If I... I must save Luna. I cannot lose Luna. You must not leave."

Xenophilius's public support of Harry Potter eventually got him in trouble with Death Eaters, who kidnapped his daughter and held her hostage at Malfoy Manor; Xenophilius intended to do whatever it took to get her back. He agreed to publish anti-Potter articles in the Quibbler, following the line of the Voldemort-dominated Ministry. When he was visited by Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger later in the year, Xenophilius alerted Death Eaters, hoping they would return Luna in exchange. While waiting for the Death Eaters' arrival, Xenophilius told the trio about the Deathly Hallows, and explained that the symbol of the Deathly Hallows was worn by believers and seekers of the Hallows to identify themselves to one another. When they grew suspicious of him after realizing that Luna had not been home in some time, Xenophilius attempted to stun Harry and his friends, but missed, hitting an Erumpenthornand causing his house to collapse.

Xeno outside his house.

The Death Eaters Travers and Selwyn arrived and briefly tortured Xenophilius, believing that he was trying to trick them about Harry being at his home. After the Human-presence-revealing spell revealed that there were others in the house, the Death Eaters sent Xenophilius up the stairs. Hermione rapidly wiped his memory of what they had discussed with him, and then blasted a hole through the floor to facilitate the trio's escape, engineering it so that the Death Eaters saw that Harry was indeed there, thus ensuring that neither Xenophilius nor Luna were punished for lying, and so that neither saw Ron, who was supposed to be at home sick with spattergroit.

Imprisonment and release

Xeno during the visit of the trio.

After the trio's escape, Xenophilius was arrested and sent to Azkaban. His attempted betrayal was unknown, with the anti-Potter issue of the Quibbler buried under the debris of his home and never distributed. He was released after Voldemort’s defeat in May of 1998. Luna, in the meantime, was rescued by the house-elfDobby from Malfoy Manor, and survived the war. Harry, Ron and Hermione preserved Xenophilius' reputation and never revealed the truth, as his attempted betrayal had been motivated solely by concern for his daughter.

Later life

As an adult, Luna would soon come to realize the truth about her father, and accept that some of his creatures do not exist. She married Rolf Scamander, grandson of the famous Newt Scamander, and the couple had twins, Lorcan and Lysander Scamander, thus making Xenophilius a grandfather. It is not known what happened to Xenophilius beyond this.

Physical appearance

Xenophilius is an eccentric-looking wizard, who looks slightly cross-eyed and has shoulder length hair that is the texture of candyfloss. At Bill Weasley and Fleur Delacour’s wedding, he wore a cap with a tassel that dangled in front of his nose, and wore a golden chain around his neck, that bore the sign of the Deathly Hallows sometimes mistaken as the mark of Gellert Grindelwald. He also wore robes of an eye-watering shade of egg-yolk yellow which Muriel said made him look like an omelette.

Personality and traits

Hermione Granger: "I mean, you could claim that anything's real if the only basis for believing in it is that nobody's proved it doesn't exist!"

Xenophilius Lovegood: "Yes, you could. I am glad to see that you are opening your mind a little."

Xenophilius cares a great deal about his daughter Luna, and shares her strange beliefs; he is likely the cause of them. He thinks the Daily Prophet is an awful paper, and only publishes stories that he thinks are important and needed to know by the public. He is extremely firm to his bizzare beliefs and views that he feels those who contradict them are "...painfully limited. Narrow. Close-minded ". According to Luna, her father does not care about making money, and does not pay people to write for The Quibbler and that they do so because it is an honour to see their name in print. Luna also said that her father is supportive of any anti-Ministry action. Mr. Lovegood fully supported Harry Potter, and encouraged others to do so as well, until his daughter was kidnapped by Death Eaters. Xenophilius cared about Luna so much that he was willing to hand Harry, Ron and Hermione over to the Death Eaters in exchange for his daughter.

Among his beliefs is the belief in the Deathly Hallows, (which actually proved to be real) as well as the existence of numerous magical cryptids such of Crumple-Horned Snorkacks. He also believes that Gnomes have powerful magic, and that the Dirigible plum would enhance one's ability to accept the extraordinary.

Etymology

Xenophilius' wand

Xenophilius' name comes from two Greek words: Xenos "strange" and -Phile "love".As opposed to xenophobe, one who fears the strange, his name means "one who loves the strange."

Xenophilius' name bears a similarity to the X-Files, and like X-Files main character Fox Mulder, he describes himself as a "believer." Both characters investigate and believe in numerous conspiracy theories which are not accepted by their mainstream culture.

Notes and references

↑Xenophilius was not forced to go on the run when Snatchers began scouring across Britain, thus he couldn't have been Muggle-born.

↑"In Ch. 4 of Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince, Horace Slughorn states that family members are often Sorted into the same House. This may indicate that Xeno was Sorted into Ravenclaw, as Luna was Sorted into Ravenclaw. However, there are exceptions. Also, The doorknocker of his house is shaped like an eagle, the symbol of Ravenclaw house.